Ringtones? What's a Ringtone?
by Batwings79
Summary: This story is the product of a challenge between Onesimus42 and Batwings79 - criteria explained in the Chapt. 1 Author's Notes - "Ringtones are those little songs and ditties that play when someone rings your cell phone," replied Elsie Hughes. "Don't you have any ringtones set on your cell phone?" "I don't think so," said Charles Carson doubtfully. "It just rings and I answer it."
1. Venus in Blue Jeans by Bobby Vee

**_A/N: This story is the result of a challenge between Onesimus and Batwings79. A recent story over at LJ (CE Enterprises by bsg_aussiegirl) written for their recent Battleships Challenge - prompted Batwings79 to say that the only thing missing from that story was a smartphone going off with the theme from Downtown Abbey as the ringtone. This resulted in a discussion of what songs would Elsie and Charles have as their ringtones for each other. And WHAM! The plot bunnies started mating with dust bunnies and the Ringtone Challenge was born!_**

 ** _Criteria for the Challenge:_**

 ** _1) Story can be set in any time period from 1890 - present_**

 ** _2) Must use at least 3 phrases/sentences from at least 2 of the songs mentioned in the PM exchange - one of which must be from the other person's list_**

 ** _3) Must include a 'scene of seduction' with M-ness a must since it is so much fun to read and write_**

 ** _4) No chapter or word restrictions (although we seem to have settled on 3 chapters needed to setup the seduction scene and close the story._**

 ** _This story is definitely AU but I hope that it's not too OOC…at least for our two main characters. I hope that you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it._**

* * *

 _ **Ringtones? What's a ringtone?**_

 _ **Chapter 1 – Venus in Blue Jeans by Bobby Vee**_

For the life of him, Charles Carson could not figure out why he let her talk him into this. His newly renovated townhouse overrun with…young people! He shuddered as he watched his colleagues walking from room to room with ladders and drop cloths and dripping buckets of paint. If there was so much as a single drop of paint anywhere on his beautiful hardwood floors, Elsie Hughes was going to pay.

When he first decided he needed to move into London proper so he could be closer to the office and better able to handle any crises that might be dealt the company, it was _she_ who recommended Daisy Robinson as an estate agent. Turned out that Ms. Robinson was a shrewd business woman and was not only able to get this Edwardian townhouse for a reasonable price, she talked the sellers into completing all of the renovations as part of the deal. Charles only had to tackle the finish work such as the interior painting.

As the purchase of the townhouse had gone so smoothly, he only hesitated a moment when Ms. Hughes suggested this arrangement – having his colleagues over for…what did she call it? Oh yes, a paint party. Now that they were here he was absolutely certain this was a bad idea. He was standing in the middle of his parlor watching William Mason climb a ladder with a loaded paint brush in one hand and his cell phone glued to his ear with the other when he heard the doorbell ring. He opened the door to find Elsie Hughes standing there holding two lattes as she struggled with her oversized purse.

"Here, hold these," she said shoving the two cups into his hands. She finally retrieved her smartphone and slipped it into the back pocket of her trousers while she pulled the zipper closed on her purse and slung it over her shoulder. She reached over and turned one of the cups in his hand to read something scrawled on the side and then took the other one from him. "That one's yours," she said pointing to the cup that she had left with him, "It's a caramel macchiato…you'll like it."

He didn't know why she insisted that he try these silly coffee drinks. She knew perfectly well that he didn't like change and would have preferred for her to have brought him a black tea with two sugars and a splash of milk.

"It's about time you got here, they're out of control and they're destroying my house!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sure they're not destroying your house," she said with a heavy sigh as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well they're certainly not paying attention to what they're doing," he said testily. They all have a cell phone or one of those pad-thingies that they are constantly talking or typing on."

"Texting…when they're typing on their phones or think pads, it's called texting," she said in response to his raised eyebrows.

"I don't care what it's called, between that and the constant beeps, rings and songs bursting forth on the phones…"

"Ringtones," she said flatly.

"Ringtones? What's a ringtone?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Ringtones are those little songs and ditties that play when someone rings your cell phone," she replied. "Don't you have any ringtones set on your cell phone."

"I don't think so," he said, "it just rings and I answer it."

"Well, you can set separate ringtones for everyone in your contact list and then you can tell by the song that plays who's calling you."

"That must be why O'Brien's phone has played a different tune every time her phone has rung this morning," he said ponderingly.

"I could help you download and set some up in your cell phone if you'd like," she offered trying to stay on Carson's good side.

"What I'd like is to get this paint business finished up and all of these people out of my house!" he said evenly.

Just then, John Bates came up to them and said that most of the rooms had small crews that were tackling the walls and the trim but they'd not had any extra hands to paint the trim around the dormer and the windows in the parlor.

"I think that Mr. Carson and I can tackle that," said Elsie looking over at Charles. "What say we put these lattes in the kitchen and find a couple of paintbrushes.

"If it will get everyone out of here that much quicker," he grumbled and followed her to the kitchen.

She had just turned the corner when Thomas Barrow came flying through the doorway and ran directly into Elsie dumping her latte down the front of her sweater.

"Mr. Barrow," said Charles in his deepest, most solemn tone of voice. "You will apologize to Ms. Hughes."

"What for?" Thomas asked sarcastically, "not my fault she wasn't watchin' where she was going."

"You will apologize or you will leave," said Charles.

"It's alright, Carson," said Elsie trying to diffuse the situation and still hang onto Thomas as a working pair of hands. "Maybe we should both be a little more careful. I'm sure this will wash out."

"Hmph!" grunted Thomas as he shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way.

"That's cashmere," observed Charles, "and it won't wash out unless you put it down to soak right away. Come with me." He led her upstairs to the master bedroom and started rummaging around in the back of his closet. "Here, this will have to do." He handed her one of his dress shirts and pointed towards the bathroom. "You can change in there and put your sweater down to soak in the sink."

"But this is one of your dress shirts," she said quietly, surprised at his solicitous behavior. This was not the Charles Carson that bellowed from his office and strode imperiously around the halls when things didn't go his way.

"I lost the buttons on one of the cuffs and never got around to mending it. You can't hurt it and now you won't have to worry about getting paint on your sweater either." He shooed her towards the bathroom as he stepped into the hallway and closed the bedroom door.

He located a rickety looking step ladder along with a paint tray holding the white semi-gloss for the trim and two paintbrushes. He was just setting up in the parlor when she walked through the archway. He wasn't sure exactly why but his breath caught in his chest at the sight of her.

His dress shirt dwarfed her so she'd rolled up the sleeves and tied the shirttails around her waist; accentuating her tiny waistline and the flair of her hips in the tight blue jeans she was wearing. His eyes were drawn to the open buttons at the top of the shirt which showed a significant amount of bare skin. As his eyes drifted down, he noticed how the material clung and accentuated the swell of her breasts. She must have removed her bra and put it down to soak as well. She'd pulled her hair back with a bandeau which only contributed to her youthful appearance.

Charles stood slack-jawed as his mind tried to put into words…Venus, that was it! A Venus in blue jeans…Mona Lisa in a pony-tail…at that moment she was a walking, talking work of art…she walked right in and stole his heart.

"What?! I can't have paint on my nose yet," she laughed, "we haven't even started!"

The sound of her voice brought Charles out of his reverie. "No, we haven't started yet and I'm not sure how much we'll be able to accomplish. This step ladder doesn't look as though it's up to the task."

"Well, let's do what we can reach the floor and then we'll deal with the step ladder," she said.

Charles could reach the tops of the bay windows and the side window next to the front door and soon they'd established a routine whereby she stood just in front of him and painted the bottom sills and halfway up the window trim where he would pick it up and finish off the tops of the windows. Charles enjoyed the proximity that this brought them, he would steal small glances down at the top of her head and very occasionally he caught a glimpse of her cleavage when she was reaching up to paint the side rails.

There was just one problem with the rhythm they'd established…even Charles couldn't reach the dormer windows above the front door.

Looking at the step ladder Elsie said, "Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but I really don't think that step ladder will hold your weight." Charles nodded in agreement. "Why don't you steady the ladder and I'll climb up and paint the dormers?"

"You're certain?" he asked.

"I'd feel safe if you were holding the ladder," she said coyly, smiling up at him. Charles felt butterflies in his stomach as he looked down into her eyes. In all his experiences with women…which he had to admit were likely not as extensive as those of his younger colleagues…he'd never run across a woman who made him feel the way that Elsie Hughes did right this moment.

"R…right," he stammered blushing slightly. "Let's get your paintbrush loaded." He took the brush from her and dipped it into the paint tray. He felt tingles run up his arm when her fingers brushed against his as she took the paintbrush from him.

She climbed up the ladder and it started to sway just as soon as she got into position to reach out with her paintbrush. Charles tried holding the ladder from the side but it still tended to lurch and sway with her every move. He eventually found that the best position for holding the ladder was to stand directly behind her at the foot and hold onto both rails.

This put him in a position to be at eye-level with her pert bottom enhanced by those tight blue jeans. And then there was her scent…spicy with a slightly musky overtone. He didn't realize that he'd groaned aloud as he closed his eyes until he heard her voice, "Are you alright Mr. Carson?"

"I'm fine…um…I just remembered something that I forgot to do before I left the office yesterday," he covered quickly. The sudden rush of adrenalin at the realization that she'd heard his groan aroused him even more and he found himself counting figures and trying to think of everything but _her_ in his efforts to not embarrass himself when he stood up straight.

Without warning, she stepped down a rung and her bottom brushed against his cheek. His knee-jerk reaction was to let go of the ladder and take a step back but this allowed the ladder to wobble and Elsie started to fall backwards. He caught her against his chest and as he lowered her to the floor that delicious bottom of hers brushed against his groin and suddenly he was standing to attention…in more ways than one. She started to turn in his arms but jerked away from him when Anna, John, Sarah and Thomas came into the room.

"All the rooms have paint on the walls that matches the list that you gave us, Mr. Carson," said John, "and with the trim in here painted, all the rooms are now complete." The rest of them cheered as William and Daisy joined the group.

"What say we adjourn down to the pub for a pint!" shouted Thomas.

"Here, here," said the rest of the group as they began to gather their belongings and head for the front door. "You coming, Mr. Carson?" asked William as he helped Daisy with her coat.

"I think not, Master William," said Carson formally, "you don't need an old fuddy-duddy hanging about and besides, all that loud music gets on my nerves. You go along and have a good time, I'll see you in the office on Monday."

"Right-oh!" exclaimed William as he and Daisy walked out the door.

Charles turned to Elsie and helped her into her coat. "Just charge it to the company account and I'll settle up on Monday," he said as he held out her purse.

"Are you sure you won't come along, just for a little while?" she asked quietly. "You'll be missed."

"I think not," he replied wondering if _she_ would miss his presence. "Good-night Ms. Hughes…Elsie."

He closed the door behind her and went to inspect the house. He was quite surprised to find that each of the rooms had indeed been painted the appropriate color and there was not a drop of paint anywhere on his wood floors. He had to admit that they had done an excellent job.

He returned to the kitchen and started going through the few boxes he'd brought over in his car. The furniture wasn't due to arrive until Tuesday and he'd boxed up some odds and ends to try and make his first few nights more comfortable. He managed to find his good corkscrew, a bottle of merlot and the crystal wine glasses. Sitting on the kitchen counter, he sipped his wine and enjoyed the peace and quiet of an empty house.

His thoughts turned slowly to Ms. Hughes…Elsie as he now thought of her. In the office she was always so prim and proper, wearing skirts of the appropriate length and never, ever wearing trousers. Her hair was always pinned up on top of her head, today was the first time he'd ever seen her with her hair down. He wondered why he never saw this side of her but realized that it was because he'd never seen her outside the office before. He always turned down their invitations to go down to the pub after work and he rarely attended office parties. When he did, he never stayed for more than half an hour or so. He could almost kick himself now that he realized that he might have gotten to know her better at some of these outings.

He was slowly reliving the memory of holding her against his chest and the smell of her as she slid down his body. He was so lost in his own fantasies that he almost didn't hear the doorbell ring the second time around...


	2. Wild Thing by the Troggs

**_A/N: I'm so glad you enjoyed the first chapter of our little challenge. Next comes the 'seduction scene' in my story so if M-ness isn't your 'thang'…then you may want to stop reading at the breakline and just imagine the rest for yourself while you await Chapter Three - which I believe is just as cute…if not cuter than Chapter One!_**

* * *

 _ **Ringtones? What's a ringtone?**_

 _ **Chapter 2 – Wild Thing by the Troggs**_

He was ready to give short shrift to whoever was ringing his bell when he jerked open the door and stopped short at the sight before him…there stood Elsie Hughes.

"I picked up Chinese and a bottle of wine," she said holding bottle out to him. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Of course," he said shaking off his sudden stupor. "Come in." He closed the door behind her and took her coat and purse. "You didn't leave the others down at the pub with an open checkbook, did you?" he asked with mock sternness.

"Not with Thomas and Sarah at the helm," she exclaimed. "What do you take me for? I think I should feel insulted by that remark!"

"Please don't!" He held up his hands in surrender. "I just wondered why you weren't down at the pub _with_ them, drinking me into the poor-house."

She laughed at his remark. "They decided _your_ corner pub was too quiet for them and they took the tube downtown to go clubbing instead." Seeing the question in his eyes, she added, "Don't ask…you don't really want to know." He rolled his eyes and ushered her out of the small foyer.

They walked through the parlor towards the kitchen and Charles said, "I'll see if I can find the plates."

"No, you silly man!" exclaimed Elsie. "You're supposed to eat it from the boxes with chopsticks." Elsie looked around the room and spied a stack of pillows and blankets near the closet. "Look, why don't you find another wine glass and get a fire going while I fix us a place to sit."

"Alright," said Charles as he set his wineglass on the mantel and headed back to the kitchen.

Finding the second wineglass was easy. Picking up the open bottle of wine he'd left on the counter, he carried them both to the parlor. When he entered the room he saw that she'd found the stack of blankets and spread several on the floor in front of the fireplace placing the bag of food in the middle. As he knelt down to set the kindling and the logs, she brought over several pillows and tossed them around the blankets. When he was sure that the fire was going to take, he stood and discovered that she'd turned out all the lights in the kitchen behind them except the under-the-counter lights and she'd found the dimmer for the overhead lights in the parlor.

He wondered if he should say something about the cozy setting but decided not to. "You know, Ms. Hughes," began Charles with a deep rumble in his chest, "I really need to say thank you, _again_."

"Oh dear, I thought you'd moved on to calling me Elsie," she countered as she began to open the boxes of food and arrange them on the blanket. "And what would you need to thank me for, _Mister_ Carson?"

"Fair enough, _Elsie_ ," he said, pointedly acknowledging the use of his formal title. "I know I had a few doubts about this paint party idea of yours…"

"A few doubts!" snorted Elsie.

"Yes, well…I have to admit that the crew did an excellent job and all the rooms look beautiful."

"And the floors?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Not a drop of paint anywhere," he chuckled. "Now, how am I supposed to work these things?" He held the chopsticks up, one in each hand like skewers.

She scooted over next to him and perched on her knees just behind his right shoulder. She had to raise up and place her chin on top of his shoulder so that she could see what she was doing. Reaching around his shoulder, she tried to help him work the chopsticks with his right hand. Her touch felt so soft and his heart began to race when she leaned against his back. Suddenly, his thoughts were tumbling to places they probably shouldn't, especially given that she was a colleague. As a result, he inadvertently dropped a piece of Mandarin Chicken down the front of his shirt.

"Maybe I should be wearing a bib," he said laughing at himself.

"I think that maybe you should try the shovel method," she giggled and showed him how to hold the box near his chin and use the chopsticks to push the food into his mouth.

"How uncivilized," exclaimed Charles with overly exaggerated disdain in his voice. "I think I'll go and get a fork," he said rising from the floor. "Would you like one too?"

"No, I'm fine with the chopsticks," she said lifting a large portion of Chow Mein to her mouth.

They proceeded to eat their dinner and 'talk shop' as well as trade office gossip. Of course, the gossip was mostly Elsie explaining _who_ was dating _who_ in the office as Charles didn't really pay that much attention to the comings or goings of his colleagues.

"Let me see if I have this straight," said Charles, his head spinning from the information overload. "Sarah O'Brien is dating Mr. Lang down in the mailroom? Then why does she have so many of those ring-thingies you were telling me about this morning?"

"Ring _tones_ \- that's because she's also dating Mr. Molesley over in accounting. She uses different ring tones so that she can tell which one of them is calling before she checks the caller-ID."

"Caller-ID?" asked Charles.

Elsie laughed, "You really don't know much about cell phones do you? Come here, I can at least show you how to set a ringtone. Give me your phone."

Charles scooted over to sit behind her so he could watch her work. Even with a light-up keypad, it was hard to see in the dim light from the fire so he closed the gap between them. Resting his chin on her shoulder he could get close enough to see what she was doing. He could hear the murmur of her voice but he wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. He was mesmerized by the feel of her against his chest and shoulder and his nose was busy sorting the faint scent of lavender in her hair from the spice of the perfume that she must dab behind her ear. Her ear…so close to his lips, he would only have to turn his head to kiss the lobe or to run his tongue along the outer edge of it….

"Charles Carson, are you listening to me?"

He was sitting so close that when she turned her head to look at him, her lips brushed the corner of his mouth. They stared at each other for several long moments and finally Charles made the first move. He reached up to caress her cheek and drew her towards him as he captured her mouth in a searing kiss. He nibbled on her lower lip before his tongue reached out to explore her mouth.

Slipping her arms around his neck, she deepened the kiss and leveraged her body weight against his chest to urge him down towards the floor.

They wrestled for several minutes, each trying to take control when Charles suddenly found himself flat on his back with her straddling his hips. He wasn't certain that he was completely comfortable with this turn of events but he couldn't deny that he was excited and aroused at the prospect of what she might have in store for him. His final conscious decision was to relax and…what was it his young colleagues kept saying to him?...go with the flow?

He found his hands tightly gripping her bottom as she ground herself against him. Running his hands up her back beneath her shirt, he found his access impeded by the shirttails tied around her waist. Pushing lightly on her stomach in an attempt to get at the knot at her waist, he felt her suddenly pull away and sit up straight.

He looked down in surprise at the graying hair on his chest to find that she'd undone all the buttons on his shirt and pulled it open as she sat up. She gave him a wicked grin and batted at his hands as he reached for the knotted shirttails. She made it very clear who was going to be in charge this evening and so he folded his hands behind his head and gave over control to her.

~~oO~~oOo~~Oo~~

She towered over him as the light from the fireplace cast flickering shadows over her face. Arching her back provocatively, she pulled the bandeau from her hair and shook the dark locks out so they hung down over her shoulders. Then she slowly undid the buttons of her shirt…exposing a long expanse of porcelain skin. Slowly trailing a finger down between her breasts, she stopped just short of the knot at her waist.

His excitement getting the better of him, Charles undid the knotted shirttails and sat up as he ran his hands up her ribs to cup her breasts beneath the material. She moaned softly as his thumbs traced light circles around her nipples. She held on to his broad shoulders as he kissed and nipped at each of them in turn. Charles had let his knees fall open when he sat up to hold her and now he bent forward to lay her down on the floor between them. She continued to straddle his hips by bending her knees over the tops of his thighs.

Reaching down to undo the button of her blue jeans, she slowly slid the zipper open. Charles groaned softly as he caught sight of the black silk bikinis that she wore underneath. His hands slid over her hips as she raised them off the floor taking both garments down over the soft curves of her bottom. He then hitched an arm under each of her knees to shift her legs straight up in front of him so that he could slide her jeans and bikinis completely off. He felt her shiver as he slowly ran his hands back down the length of her legs.

He looked down at her as she dropped her legs to wrap them around his waist. Charles was convinced that there couldn't be anything in this world as beautiful as the sight of this woman…Elsie Hughes…lying naked before him. Even in the oversized shirt that lay open around her… _his_ oversized shirt he reminded himself…she was magnificent.

He pulled her to him so that he could kiss her and taste her. They shared several passionate kisses before she asserted herself and pushed him to lie back down on the floor and she surprised him again. Somehow she had managed to undo the fastenings on his trousers and she was tugging at the waistband of his undershorts. She turned herself to face his feet as she nudged him to lift his hips so that she could push his trousers down his legs. She had to lie completely flat against him in order to get the garments down to his ankles and off his feet pinning his erection between her breasts in the process. Charles thought he would go completely mad at the sensations when she wiggled his trousers free and tossed them aside.

She scooted back to straddle his chest and gripped his manhood at the base as she ran her tongue along the underside from base to tip. Charles' hips bucked up off the floor but he was able to get himself quickly under control, for the moment anyway. Her straddling his chest put her in the perfect position for Charles to do a bit of exploring of his own.

He ran his hands up the outside of her thighs and caressed her beautiful bottom. Then he reached between her legs and began to stroke between her folds with his thumb. He used different rhythms and varied the pressure until he was rewarded with her moans.

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by a new sensation. She was massaging him with her mouth and tongue when she discovered a very sensitive spot that caused his hips to buck wildly. She wanted very much to explore the sensitive spot that could cause this buttoned-up Englishman to lose control but decided that there were other _activities_ that she wanted to engage in before he came completely undone so she backed off a bit and concentrated more on the feelings that he was arousing in her.

She liked the way he experimented with touch and rhythm and soon she was whimpering with the need to feel him inside her. She pulled away and swung herself around as she hovered over his hips. He reached down between them to guide himself to her entrance and then she took him in a single stroke. She balanced herself with her hands on either side of his ribcage which allowed her to set the rhythm and vary the angle so that he hit that certain spot that made her feel so warm inside. Her breasts bounced in front of him and he reached out to capture them. She moaned and called out his name when he squeezed her nipples and raised his hips to meet hers. Soon her movements became more erratic and he could feel the first waves of her release.

As she lost control and sank against his chest, he suddenly shifted and sat up to take her in his arms. He was careful not to break their connection as he reached for a pillow and then turned to place it under her hips as he rolled her to the floor beneath him.

At first she wrapped her legs around his waist trying to draw him deeper but it wasn't enough. She felt him slip his hands behind her knees, drawing her legs up along his chest so that her ankles rested on his shoulders. His movements were powerful and confident and she could feel that knot of desire begin to wind up again. She watched his look of concentration as her own hips began to move of their own accord. She could feel that he was close to losing control. He had thrown back his head and was giving himself completely over to her. Soon they were both crying out with their mutual release.

As he lay dozing in her arms she thought back to the years that they'd known each other. They had worked side by side for nearly fifteen years now. She had always admired his calm authority and business acumen. She found his attention to detail to be rather sexy in the way he would wrinkle his brow when concentrating on the review of a contract or going through a company's books. He could cause butterflies in her stomach when he brushed against her in the hall or looked at her across the boardroom table.

But this was different, she could never have imagined this side of him. He was like a wild thing…and all she could think about was how it made her heart sing. She giggled when a sudden thought came unbidden to her mind – he made everything _groovy_.

He raised his head and looked at her through bleary eyes. "What's so funny?"

She smiled down at him affectionately, "Nothing, my dear. Just thinking to myself about what the _children_ would say if they knew about this."

"We can cross that bridge when we get back to the office," he snorted and reached out to pull one of the blankets over them as he drew her into the circle of her arms and settled his cheek on the top of her head. The soft sound of his snores soon lulled her into a deep sleep.


	3. Unforgettable by Nat King Cole

_**A/N: We've finally reached the end of our little challenge and I hope that you've enjoyed the reading as much as I enjoyed the writing. Thanks to Onesimus for engaging in this challenge with me and if you haven't yet, go over and read 'Irresistible Force Meets Immovable Object'. (Hint: contains tartan foundation garments and I won't tell you whose!) ;-)**_

* * *

 _ **Ringtones? What's a Ringtone?**_

 _ **Chapter 3 - Unforgettable by Nat King Cole**_

Charles awoke the next morning to sunshine pouring in through the bay window. He sat up and looked around but couldn't see Elsie anywhere. He pulled on his trousers and padded out to the kitchen. He found the leftovers boxed up and sitting in the fridge, the wine bottle had been rinsed out and placed in the recycle bin and the wineglasses had been rinsed and polished and were sparkling on the counter where he found her note.

 _C_

 _Received text from Isobel Crawley. Requested power- lunch today regarding new contract. See you at the board meeting Monday._

 _E_

That was Elsie, straight to the point. He knew she'd been working this contract for months and had spent many a late night and weekend trying to gain concurrence from Isobel and the old dragon, Lady Violet, on the contract language so they could move to negotiating the price. He hoped things would go well for her today as he headed up the stairs to shower.

-o O o-

They hadn't had an opportunity to see each other all morning as they were both tied up with clients right up until the start of the board meeting. Lost in their own thoughts, they almost ran into one another as they entered the hallway.

"Thank you for returning my sweater," she said quietly as they walked side by side towards the board room.

"Not a problem," he replied, "I hope I remembered to get all three items into the bag?"

He had found her bikinis when he shook out the blankets and had washed them along with her bra and sweater that she'd forgotten in the sink. He was amused when he discovered that the bra and bikinis were a matched set. He felt his trousers twitch a bit as he wondered whether she was wearing a matched set under the navy blue power suit she had on this morning.

"Yes," she said quickly, "all three items were in the bag."

A very becoming blush drew across her cheeks as she remembered the events leading up to the 'loss' of her bikinis. She felt the sudden warmth between her legs as she wondered whether she might lose another pair in the not too distant future.

They walked into the board room and he held her chair for her as was his custom. They often sat side by side at these meetings but for some reason today, Charles decided to sit across the table from her.

Robert Crawley was CEO of the company and tended to like hearing the sound of his own voice. He called the meeting to order and began to drone on about how the company could not afford to rest on the laurels of their recent successes.

Charles stole a look at Elsie. She was looking at Robert Crawley but Charles knew by the way she was twisting the pinkie ring on her right hand that she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying . She was likely envisioning her next counter strike to the negotiations with Mr. Crawley's cousin Isobel. He heaved a bit of a sigh, wishing to himself that she was thinking about him.

Elsie heard the sigh from across the table and stole a glance in his direction. No one else seemed to notice but she knew from the wrinkle of his brow and the set of his jaw that his mind was anywhere else but here in this boardroom. In all likelihood he was contemplating the next acquisition for his long time clients Patmore and Company. She sat silently wishing that he was thinking of her.

He stole another glance at her and saw that she was busy typing out a text on her cell phone to someone. He thought about what she'd said about ringtones and how she set them individually so she would know who was calling. He wondered what ringtone she had set for him. He looked down at his own cell phone when it suddenly hit him. He could just ring her and find out...not in the middle of a board meeting surely…she probably had her phone set to vibrate anyway. _Hmmm…nothing ventured, nothing gained, old man._ He argued back and forth with himself for several minutes and then decided to throw caution to the wind. He surreptitiously lowered his cell phone into his lap and flipped it open. He scrolled through his contacts until he saw her name. He paused for just a moment longer then pressed the call button.

 _Wild Thang, I think I love you, but I wanna' know for sure…_

The song rang out through the boardroom sending everyone scrambling for their cell phones. Elsie was mortified when she realized it was her phone that was ringing. She didn't have to look down to know that it was Charles Carson's phone placing the call. She quickly sent the call to voicemail and looked up at Mr. Crawley.

"I'm sorry Mr. Crawley," she said looking slightly sheepish, "I must have forgotten to set my phone to _stun_ after the weekend. Won't happen again, sir."

"Yes," said Robert Crawley looking around the room at the others as they checked their cell phones. "Let's get back to business."

Charles wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting but 'Wild Thing' wasn't it. He wondered if that's what she really thought of him. Then he contemplated the words to the song…'I think I love you'…that sent his heart to racing a bit. Could it be possible that she harbored feelings for him? He looked across the table to find her glaring at him but he could tell by the small twitch at the corners of her mouth and the light in her eyes that she was not really mad at him. He then lost himself in thoughts of her lying on the floor beneath him wearing only his dress shirt.

Elsie glared at him across the table but found that she wasn't really mad at him. Especially when he had that little smirk on his face which usually meant that he was feeling proud of himself for something he'd accomplished. It was really a rather ingenious way to get her attention she supposed. A text would have been better so that she could have replied to him. She wondered what he thought about having 'Wild Thing' as his personal ringtone. Would he figure out that she'd only given it to him after their wild night of lovemaking? Her mind wandered to what ringtone he would assign to her, provided he ever learned how to work his cell phone.

Suddenly she remembered walking by his office this morning and seeing William Mason showing him which buttons to push on the phone. Could he possibly have asked William to help him set a ringtone? Could it have been for her? Elsie decided what was good for the goose was be good for the gander. She dropped her phone into her lap and looked over at Charles. He was lost in thought as he doodled on his notepad. She hit the speed dial buttons and waited to see what would happen.

 _Unforgettable, in every way, and forever more that's how you'll stay…_

The song was coming from Charles Carson's lap. He scrambled to scoop up his phone and ended up launching it across the tabletop where it skittered to a stop in front of Elsie Hughes.

 _That's why, darling, it's incredible that someone so unforgettable, thinks that I am unforgettable, too_

She reached over and hit the end call button as she picked up the phone.

"Sorry, Mr. Crawley," she said flipping open Charles' phone. "We all know that Mr. Carson is a bit challenged when it comes to electronics. One of the crew must have reset his phone when he wasn't looking. I'll set it stun for him. There you go," she said as she slid the phone back over to him.

"Thank you, Ms. Hughes," he replied looking into her eyes which were filled with amusement and a hint of desire.

"I think that's enough for today," said Mr. Crawley rolling his eyes in exasperation, "meeting adjourned."

As they walked side by side down the hallway, Charles leaned over to whisper in Elsie's ear, "The bed gets delivered tomorrow."

"I'll bring the Chinese, shall I?" she asked coyly as they walked into their individual offices.

The End


End file.
